Anthony Wright, David Carr on the mark for New York Giants in preseason opener

Dominec Centofanti/Getty ImagesDavid Carr of the Giants rolls out of the pocket against the Detroit Lions Thursday at Ford Field in Detroit.

NOTEBOOK

DETROIT -- While Eli Manning struggled in his first preseason game, Anthony Wright and David Carr pretty much went toe-to-toe in the first round of their battle for the spot behind him.

Wright completed nine of 13 passes for 116 yards in last night's loss to the Lions, while Carr, playing the second half with the third-string receivers and other young players, connected on 10 of 13 attempts for 104 yards and a touchdown.

Perhaps both players just had a sense that there were rumblings the Giants were interested in former Jets quarterback Chad Pennington, who was released Thursday afternoon. Late last night, The New York Times reported the Giants were one of the teams interested in Pennington, though a person familiar with Pennington's situation said that's not likely. The person requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly for Pennington.

In Pennington's case, the Giants would seem to be a long shot and were probably checking him out in case Carr and Wright struggle in the preseason.

"We take a look at everybody," Giants general manager Jerry Reese said after Thursday night's game. "That includes him."

When asked if he had called Pennington's agent, Reese repeated, "We take a look at everybody."

On the field, Carr was sharp with several passes, including a 13-yard touchdown to Craphonso Thorpe that tied the game early in the fourth quarter. Carr tried to lead a game-winning drive, but it stalled partly because of an intentional grounding penalty. Coach Tom Coughlin blamed whoever missed the blocking assignment, not Carr.

"There was some lost poise. Not by David Carr," Coughlin said, later adding: "He did show some good things and I was happy about that."

Wright's biggest play of the night was a 46-yard pass to Sinorice Moss in the second quarter.

"He's a speedster and I was just trying to take advantage of that," Wright said. "I saw a 1-on-1 matchup and I knew who I was going to."

Before the game LB Antonio Pierce was worried about the speaker in his headset through which the coaches send in play calls. It's a rule change adopted to combat the problems that contributed to the Spygate scandal.

Pierce's concerns don't seem to have been eased just yet.

"It's different. It's going to take some time to get used to, especially with this being a live game atmosphere," he said. "The coach and the player need to learn when to talk and not to talk. It works good because you don't have to worry about anybody stealing signals."

Rookie DEs Robert Henderson and Wallace Gilberry both suffered ankle injuries that appear to be minor.